Am I wasting money?

[Rick H]

Hi, had a new 8800 gallon fiberglass pool installed in July 2012. The installer provided several start up and maintenance chemicals. On of the chemicals is a granular product called E-Z Pool. It is supposed to be added on a weekly basis. It does not contain chlorine, I have an in-line chlorinator. The product says it helps clarify the pool.... am I wasting my money??? It is expensive, and I did use it for the 3 months that my pool was open last year without any issues. Just wondering. Thanks, I am learning a ton from this site!!!
Rick

 

[JamesW]

I would recommend against using EZ pool.

 

[Rick H]

Thank you. Is there any reasons why? I just don't know much about the stuff..

 

[jblizzle]

Not sure what that is offhand, but wanted to say welcome and recommend you read through Pool School (button at upper right of page) to get a better understanding of your pool's chemistry. With the knowledge you gain, you certainly can save yourself some money.

Posted from my Droid with Tapatalk ... sorry if my response is short

 

[JamesW]

It's a mixture of the following:
1) Potassium persulfate (potassium peroxydisulfate)
2) Sodium bisulfate
3) Ammonium chloride
4) Calcium chloride
5) Sodium Bicarbonate
6) Aluminum chloride (possibly Aluminum chlorohydrate, which is what is in HTH Green to Blue).
7) Copper sulfate

You should only add what is needed based on testing the water and following the recommended levels.

 

[Rick H]

Thank you everyone! I appreciate it.
Rick

 

[jblizzle]

It's a mixture of the following:
1) Potassium persulfate (potassium peroxydisulfate)
2) Sodium bisulfate
3) Ammonium chloride
4) Calcium chloride
5) Sodium Bicarbonate
6) Aluminum chloride (possibly Aluminum chlorohydrate, which is what is in HTH Green to Blue).
7) Copper sulfate

You should only add what is needed based on testing the water and following the recommended levels.

Yikes. Sound like quite the witches brew. Certainly easier to add chemicals to your pool that only affect a single thing at a time ... And never any copper.

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[Speedo]

Last year I was insulted by my brother's suggestion to use this garbage because "His friend loves it!" I had to ask him if he was blind because my water is stellar. He suggested it because of the decreased maintenance time, he said "How much time do you spend playing chemist?" To that I said, usually around 5 minutes a day. Instead of bowing down he didn't really say much. His friend can spend hours trying to fix his chemistry. Oh well, eventually it will turn green and he can tell his friend how nice my pool is instead of trying to sell me on "low maintenance."

Every pool owner that sees a TFP has great respect.

I hope it gets warm quickly, only 3 months to go! Probably 4 until I'm actually swimming though.

 

[Nina Li]

I recommend a saltwater system....I've never had to add chemicals to my water and it's still crystal clear, since May 2012. During rainstorms that last many days, after of a week of this, I'll only add a gallon of bleach to "help" the system a bit and some pool salt when it's low, which isn't that often. That's about it so far.

 

[jblizzle]

I recommend a saltwater system....I've never had to add chemicals to my water and it's still crystal clear, since May 2012. During rainstorms that last many days, after of a week of this, I'll only add a gallon of bleach to "help" the system a bit and some pool salt when it's low, which isn't that often. That's about it so far.

So did you managed to get your TA low enough to stabilize the pH rise due to the SWG? Or maybe your fill and rain water helps prevent the pH from getting too high and requiring acid addition.

 

[Nina Li]

Uhm....truthfully I never tested it and my water is crystal clear, I winterized it until April or May (I live in Florida), and the water is just as inviting as ever, just very cold (brrrr). I had some elevated copper elements in my water during the summer (I had some green staining) and I adjusted my SWG to just one hour a day (and the green stains went away) instead of 3 or 4 hours. I'm running my pump now for 12 hrs a day to circulate the water more because I'm not swimming in it, I'll lessen the hours to 4 or 5 when I start going in. I have no algae, it's not cloudy, just a few leaves that snuck in under the cover when the wind lifted it up a little bit. Honestly...just adding salt when my SWG indicated low salt is what I've been doing and that's every couple of months. The bleach was back in June during a bad rain storm. That's about it really.

 

[duraleigh]

Uhm....truthfully I never tested it and my water is crystal clear

Well, it seems like you have gone a long time without testing pH. You have been blessed if your pH is still in what we consider acceptable range.

 

[cramar]

hehe

:lol:

 

[Nina Li]

I'm going to try and show you what I mean...I took some pictures of my pool all winterized and everything and I lifted the cover as best as I could so I could take a picture of the water (without my phone falling into the pool..lolol!!)..so here goes..

http://www.flickr.com/photos/9311604@N06/8458673661/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/9311604@N06/8459764848/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/9311604@N06/8458662949/

Hope you can see the pictures...
If so..not too bad, huh?

 

[jblizzle]

I did not ask if the water was clear. The pH does not affect that too much, but letting it get out of range can result in damage to the pool surface and equipment ... especially when ignored for months at a time.

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[Nina Li]

Well I said I haven't checked pH or anything, just by looks alone I think all is well..pump seems to working fine..change the filter once a month, so far so good. It may be out of range..I have a test kit, when I find it, I'll test it and post the results..now I'm curious!

 

[BoDarville]

Rick H:

Regarding your comment "am I wasting my money", you might want to check out my post outlining my cost savings of using the BBB method for one full year vs. my previous method (what I have dubbed "The Pool Store Method"): http://www.troublefreepool.com/bbb-saved-me-over-1-400-in-the-first-full-year-t54033.html.

Aside from having a much cleaner pool, the most commonly used chemicals under BBB (the Big 3 are Liquid Chlorine, MA, and Baking Soda) are targeted for a single purpose with little to no side effects. OTOH, most other chemicals marketed for pool maintenance and sold at pool stores and other big box stores contain ingredients that are either not needed or potentially harmful to a pool. Looking at the list of ingredients for E-Z Pool listed in a previous post, I'm seeing a few ingredients that concern me (copper sulfate, aluminum chloride, and calcium chloride are the main ones). Although copper and aluminum are common ingredients in many algaecides, this site does not recommend using algaecides containing these ingredients (and with good reason). Even the algaecide that we do recommend (trade name Polyquat 60 - sold by several mfr's and distributors) is normally not needed except in specific instances. As for calcium, most pools need to have some but the more common issue is having too much due to calcium being present in fill water to varying degrees. Continued use of E-Z Pool will likely lead to calcium scale and metal staining - neither of which you want to have.

Bottom line: Read Pool School, get a good test kit, focus on the basics outlined in Pool School (in particular the ABCs of Pool Water Chemistry article), then sit back and enjoy the cleanest pool you've ever had as well as the resulting cost savings!

 

[Rick H]

Thanks everyone! And @ BoDarville, that is my favorite movie off all time!!! I will definately be using the BBB method in the spring, if the snow ever melts! I guess I trusted the PB and his chemical recommendations, but, I am sure glad I found this site. I have spent many nights reading up on all the information. Thanks again!

 

[Nina Li]

My neighbor brought his test kit over, my pH is almost 7.6, told me to look out for a blackish film at my water line and algae which were signs that I needed to balance my water. Thanks for recommending to test it. Now I'm sure my water is ok. Good luck Rick and don't worry, the snow WILL melt!

 

[BoDarville]

Rick H

And @ BoDarville, that is my favorite movie off all time!!!

Yep, mine too - even after all these years. Ironic thing is, my father in-law is a retired officer and resembles Buford T Justice!